Chapter 119 The Disappointment - Part 2
"No, wait. I will call James and Darren over, too. I want them to hear what you have to say," Mr Anderson said, and Zora just nodded.
Mr Anderson quickly fetched his phone and called James and later Darren. Zora and Mrs Anderson moved back to the living room, joining Elorm.
"Now we just have to wait a couple of minutes more, and they will be here.
Back at the police station, the chief has received everything he needs to ensure Angela gets a life jail sentence, if not a death sentence.
The chief sat behind his desk, going through the report, making sure there was nothing that was going to raise any questions.
"Okay, everything checks out," the chief said out loud. "I just need to submit this to the court for the state trial," he thought and smiled.
The chief stepped out of his office for his lunch break. As soon as he left, an officer walked into his office, ensuring one more was watching. The officer quickly walked to the chief's table and started looking at the case files on his desk. None belongs to Angela. He opened the drawer and found a file inside it. He opened it, and it was Angela's case. He pulled out his phone and took pictures of the documents inside the file. Once he was done, he carefully put the file back into the drawer and shoved his phone back into his pocket before heading for the door. The moment he opened the door, he came face to face with the officer the chief works closely with.
"Jerome, what are you doing in the chief's office?" the officer asked.
"I came to look for the chief, but he isn't here," Jerome replied. "Were you also looking for the chief, Mike?" Jerome asked.
"Yes," Mike replied, staring at Jerome suspiciously.
"I will have to come back later than that," Jerome said and excused himself, walking away.
Mike stared at Jerome's back as he walked away and shifted his gaze back into the chief's office. He entered and closed the door behind him. He looked around, and nothing seemed to be out of place. He opened the drawer, and Angela's case file was lying there. It didn't seem like it had been touched, but again, how would he know if it had been touched since he wasn't the one who put it there? He opened it, slipped a piece of paper into it and pushed it back into the drawer before exiting the office.
At Mr Anderson's place, James and Darren had arrived, and they were all sitting together with Zora.
"Let's start with Elena. What happened?" Darren asked.
"I met up with her a day before her death. She wanted to see Angela," Zora began. "I assured her I will make that possible," she continued. "I convinced Angela to see Elena, and she agreed. I invited Elena over to my home, where Angela was staying with me," she narrated. "I left the two to chat. After a while, I came out of the room, and Elena had already left. I spoke with Angela, and she told me Elena had come to convince her to call Mr Bryce, to which she had agreed to do so. I left to take a shower and returned to the living room to inform Angela she could go take her bath too, but I couldn't find her. I saw the balcony door open, and I went to check it out. I saw Angela's necklace. I tried to pick it up, and that was when I saw them, Angela and Elena, both lying on the ground outside," she narrated, staring blankly at nothing. I rushed out of my room and went down the staircase to the back of the apartment. Angela had fainted, and Elena was lying in a pool of blood. I asked someone to help me call 911, and soon the ambulance arrived together with some police," she completed her story.
"I see," Darren commented.
"But why will Elena convince Angela to call Mr Bryce Moore?" James asked, and Mr and Mrs Anderson shifted their gaze to Zora, waiting to hear her answer.
"I am sorry, Mr and Mrs Anderson, but Angela wanted to tell you herself," Zora said, staring at Mr and Mrs Anderson. "Mr Bryce and Angela got married. That is why Angela moved out. She was staying with Mr Bryce all this while and not me," she said in one breath.
"What!" Mr and Mrs Anderson exclaimed.
"I am sorry. Angela left because she saw an artefact belonging to her late father at Bryce's family house, and she felt someone from the Moore family might be connected to her parents' murder. That is why she left, and Elena came to convince her to come back to Bryce because he is falling apart without her," Zora said in breath like a tape.
"Okay, that puts everything into a different perspective," Darren said.
Mrs Anderson just stared at her husband, and her husband knew what her stare meant. She had earlier said multiple times that Angela had found out about the people who murdered her parents.
"Does this make Angela guilty?" Mr Anderson asked, feeling Angela might be sent to jail.
"If the police are looking for a motive, this can serve as a motive for Angela's actions. I am afraid it does make her guilty more than innocent," Darren said, and his phone vibrated.
Darren retrieved his phone from his breast pocket to check who had messaged him. He excused himself to see what had been sent to his phone.
"Oh dear," Mr Anderson said, and Mrs Anderson just sat there.
"She is pregnant," Zora informed them.
"She is what?" Mr Anderson asked.
"For who?" Mrs Anderson asked.
"She is carrying Mr Bryce's child," Zora replied.
"Well, it appears there is something fishy going on down at the central police station," Darren said once he was done going through what was sent to his phone.
"What do you mean?" Mr Anderson asked.
"I just received the details of Angela's case file, and it's different from the one you showed me. This only means someone is tampering with the report. We will pick this up from the headquarters," Darren said and stood up. "Don't worry, the truth will come out," he added and headed for the door.
Mr Anderson walked Darren to the door.
"I have to go back and flag this for my boss," Darren said to Mr Anderson.
"Thank you," Mr Anderson said before Darren exited the front door.
"I will take my leave too. I will keep looking around to see what I can find," James said as soon as Mr Anderson returned to the living room.
"Thank you, James," Mr Anderson said. "Elorm, right?" Mr Anderson asked Elorm.
"Yes, sir," Elorm confirmed.
"My wife and I would like to speak with Zora alone. You can come back later tomorrow," Mr Anderson said.
"Okay, sir," Elorm said.
"I would walk you to the door," Zora said and left the living room with Elorm, leaving Mr and Mrs Anderson alone.
"I told you, Angela had found out the truth, and she is taking revenge," Mrs Anderson said.
"No, I don't think that is the case. You and I know who murdered Angela's parents. After this talk with Zora. I will go see Bryce myself. I have to tell him what happened. Hopefully, he would help Angela," Mr Anderson said.
"What happened?" Zora questioned from behind Mr Anderson.
"Nothing," Mr Anderson replied. "I need you to tell me everything that happened and how it happened," Mr Anderson said to Zora, and she nodded, finding herself a seat.
The day slowly went by, and back at Bryce's home, he felt like he was sitting on a time bomb. He had tasked both Martin and Ian to get him everything they could find on Angela. For Martin, it was a test of his new position, but for Ian, Bryce was relying on his skills to find something he could use to defend Angela. He wants to get her out of prison, but with no evidence, that was a difficult thing to do. Susan happily got prepared for the engagement party coming up on the weekend, knowing she had sorted everything out.
The 48 hours soon came to pass, and Bryce woke up in anticipation of what to expect. Today, he would know whether Angela is truly innocent or she is guilty as accused. Each hour that passed felt like an eternity. He decided not to go to the office.
It was noon when Bryce's phone vibrated with an email notification. He taps on his phone screen without unlocking it, and it lights up. He saw the incoming email from Ian, and his heart skipped multiple beats and began racing against his chest. He went into his email and slowly tapped on the email from Ian. He downloaded the attachment and began going through it.
Back at the office, Susan had also received a copy of the email from Ian. She quickly opened it and downloaded the attachment. She started going through them one after the other. The smiles on her face widened as she read them.
"We won. Bryce is going to hate Angela now. He will divorce her in a heartbeat," Susan informed Eva.
"So Ian did it?" Eva asked, smiling while sitting behind her desk.
"Yes," Susan replied, smiling ear to ear, also behind her desk.
Back at Bryce's apartment, she sank into his chair, feeling disappointed. The report from Ian said Angela was guilty. Ian had attached evidence to prove Angela was indeed guilty. Some of the evidence he had seen, and some he was seeing for the first time. Deep down, Bryce was crushed. He wished Angela were innocent. He sat behind his desk with his forehead on the table.
Martin knocked and entered Bryce's study.
"Sir, I have the report on Ms Angela Anderson as requested," Martin said and placed the file on Bryce's desk.
"Get out!" Bryce ordered him angrily, lifting his head from the desk.
"Yes, sir," Martin said and exited the office.
Bryce angrily pushed everything on his desk to the floor and sat down heavily in his chair. He was broken, and for the first time, he was deeply hurt. His tears streamed down his face.